CPH Post Newspaper 25 November - 9 December 2021 by The Copenhagen Post

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CPHPOST.DK 26 Nov - 9 Dec 2021

LOCAL

All hail the new mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen the second woman in history to take the hotseat

ELE CTIONS Konservative the undisputed kings of the local election

4 SPORT

Miracle on the ice Magic bullet equaliser seals Olympic spot for women

DATING THE DANES: IT'S BACK! Christmas lunch killjoy alert Big businesses cancelling their julefrokosts despite no official guidance from the state

BUSINESS Artist beats worker in game of Rock Paper Scissors

8 EVENTS

Time to decorate It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

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BEN HAMILTON

N THE THIRD day of Christmas, my new boss gave to me: three French letters, two MDMA doves, and a dose of Hepatitis C. Yes, the julefrokost festive lunch season is upon us, but so is a siege of corona cases. Most of them are kids who aren’t unwell, but they’re infecting parents who won’t give up their Christmas cuddles. On Tuesday, the country recorded 4,199, which might or might not be the eleventh time we’ve smashed the 2021 record this month!

Business is buckling BUT WHILE the government is holding strong, big business is buckling under the strain. In the last week, a swathe of companies have cancelled their julefrokost – a Christmas lunch/dinner odyssey where most participants let their hair and trousers down in a den of iniquity – and bosses are blaming corona, not #MeToo. Danske Fragtmænd, Danfoss, Aarstiderne and DR are all leading the way, even though the government has not requested it. In fact, it hasn’t even advised it. Not only is it bad news for venues, which often have to offer punitive cancellation terms to secure bookings, but it’s also hitting hairdressers, clothing shops and taxi drivers.

Good at ze English, yah!

DF to name new leader

DANES are the third most proficient non-native English-speakers, according to Education First’s annual English Proficiency Index of 112 nations, trailing the Netherlands and Austria with Norway fifth and Sweden eighth. “Did Scotland make the top 100,” asked a wag on the CPH POST Facebook page.

DANSK Folkeparti will unveil a new leader on January 23 to replace Kristian Thulesen Dahl following a poor local election in which support fell from 8.8 to 4.1 percent. In the 2015 general election, it stood at 21.1 percent. Morten Messerschmidt, Martin Henriksen, Peter Kofod, Pia Kjærsgaard and Inger Støjberg are all possible runners.

First snow on horizon?

Orchestra out of tune

WILL THE nation have its first snow this weekend? TV2 meteorologists made the prediction last week, claiming there was a 40 percent chance of the first flakes of the winter falling before Saturday. On average over the last 30 years, the first snow has fallen on November 10. Between 1900 and 1973 the average was October 22.

‘ORKESTRET’ (‘The Orchestra’), a new DR comedy series conceived by 'Borgen' creator Adam Price that satirises #MeToo, has been postponed in light of the sexual harassment scandal engulfing the DR Pigekoret girls’ choir. Its opening episode had been scheduled for January 1. However, it won’t be scrapped.

LOCAL

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK THE NUMBER of passengers passing through Copenhagen Airport increased to 1.6 million in October – up from 1.3 million in September. The number of passengers is now 58 percent of the level of October 2019. Some 67,253 passengers were recorded on one day during the autumn holiday – the highest number for a single day during the pandemic.

Island complaint rejected THE EUROPEAN Commission has concluded its assessment of Lynetteholmen, the proposed artificial island near Nordhavn, and confirmed the environmental studies comply with EU environmental directives. In July 2021, the Climate Movement submitted a complaint that the environmental impact analysis of the project was inadequate.

Fighting social dumping

New quick-test centres THREE more corona quick-test centres have opened in the capital. Ofelia Plads will be able to test 12,500 people a day, Frederiksbergcenteret 3,500, and a new one in Fælledparken 25,000.

Editorial offices: Holbergsgade 24 kld 1057 Copenhagen Denmark

Sophie Hæstorp Andersen takes over with eight years of experience heading the Capital Region CHRISTIAN WENANDE

OPHIE Hæstorp Andersen, the outgoing head of the Capital Region, will take over as the new mayor of Copenhagen on January 1. Her party might have seen its share of the vote fall from 27.6 to 17.3 percent, but the party with most votes, Enhedslisten, was never likely to want the mayorships. Instead it is believed it would seek two of the six other mayorships. At the time of going to press, negotiations were ongoing. More women mayors ANDERSEN is one of 19 women mayors – a new record in Denmark (since the number of municipalities were reduced to 98 in 2007) and an increase of five

Sophie Hæstorp Andersen has vowed to legalise cannabis

on 2017. Nine are newly-elected mayors and ten won re-election. “Originally, the parties were clubs for men. Women have had to fight to get in and two-thirds of the party members are still men,” Roger Buch, an expert at DMJX, told Berlingske. “Even today, voters primarily go for men.” Change from within BUCH POINTED to Christina Krzyrosiak Hansen (Holbæk) and Sofia Osmani (Lyngby-Taarbæk), who secured huge wins in their races, as an inspiration to women with

an ambition to become mayor. However, he also contended that the parties themselves need to act – particularly when appointing leading candidates. More votes by mail IN RELATED news, it has been confirmed that 35,900 Copenhageners voted by mail – up from 22,443 in 2017, according to the Culture and Leisure Administration. Since the last election the population has grown to the extent there are almost 28,000 more eligible voters.

Corona measures in place at schools Children the most likely to spread the virus: to each other and to their families

and pick up children outside the school, and children should not mix across classes.

LENA HUNTER

Tiny superspreaders THE MEASURES, which follow an increase in the corona infection rate in the capital, are the result of a collaboration between the Ministry of Health and Kommunernes Landsforening. Herlev, one of the municipalities to respond the fastest to the local measures, informed TV2

CHOOLS, leisure and daycare facilities remain open in Copenhagen Municipality, but on November 15 City Hall introduced a number of recommendations. Based on advice from the Danish Agency for Patient Safety, parents are asked to drop off

PIXABAY

THE MUNICIPALITIES of Albertslund, Rødovre and Hvidovre have joined forces with Copenhagen's Corporate Social Responsibility unit to tackle companies and suppliers guilty of social dumping. All resources will be invested in Copenhagen's response team, which will share advice, methods and knowledge, training, networks and IT systems to support the effort.

New woman mayor for capital

• FACEBOOK/SOPHIE HÆSTORP ANDERSEN

Airport numbers growing

26 November - 9 December 2021

ONLINE THIS WEEK

Pedagogue action NEW MINIMUM standards for daycare stipulate two thirds of pedagogical employees must be trained educators – but that will soon lead to a shortage of up to 1,000. City Hall is accordingly allowing more academics and pedagogical assistants to train as educators, starting from 2022. Some 36 million kroner will also be allocated annually for new recruitment initiatives.

Heading to Helsingør THERE were 44,800 overnight stays by Danes in Helsingør in September, which was nearly 2,000 more than the same month in 2019, according to Danmarks Statistik. At the turn of the year, Helsingør Municipality began a marketing collaboration with Wonderful Copenhagen, which they have credited much of the attention to.

CBS cuts courses COPENHAGEN Business School has terminated six courses and 334 study places in response to Parliament’s decision to cut English language courses in June. In 2025, the school will close an additional 294 study places. Business economics and philosophy BA courses are among those worse affected.

Canteens going greener

Not too close, kids!

that in the majority of cases it was children who were testing positive and subsequently spreading infection in their households.

CITY HALL is launching a new effort to reduce the CO2 footprint of its food by 25 percent by 2025. Daycare institutions, nursing homes and residences are pivoting to menus that contain more vegetables and less meat. DTU Food Institute and Meyers Madhus have contributed 750 new recipes to the drive.

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ELECTION

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ONLINE THIS WEEK

TWO INDIVIDUALS were filmed ripping down hundreds of posters in an area of Amager East on the night of November 10. “This man must really hate democracy,” the reader told CPH POST.

Election observers A DELEGATION of eight election observers from the Council of Europe were invited by Kommunernes Landsforening (KL) and Danke Regioner to monitor the local elections in Denmark this week, according to KL. KL hastened to add that it was not because any dubiousness was suspected.

Relocation hampers vote ANYONE who registered their relocation to another municipality between November 10 and 16, one week before the election, risked losing the right to vote, and 5,000 people were affected, according to DR. A broad majority in Parliament wants a law change to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

German minority mayor GERMAN minority party Slesvigsk Parti won its first mayoral post since 1946 with Jørgen Popp Petersen’s appointment in Tønder. Socialdemokratiet and Venstre approved the appointment despite having more mandates.

96-year reign over SOCIALISTISK Folkeparti unseated Socialdemokratiet in Hvidovre where it had held power for 96 years. With the help of Enhedslisten, Konservative, Hvidovrelisten and Venstre, SF’s Anders Wolf Andresen has replaced Helle Adelborg as mayor.

X Factor sorely lacking VILSON Ferati, a contestant in this year’s ‘X-Factor’, has found out that being famous doesn’t always guarantee success in an election. Running for Socialdemokratiet in Sønderborg, he only managed to pick up a measly 18 votes.

Backyard beating can’t kill the mood!

ONLINE THIS WEEK FACEBOOK/KONSERVATIVE

Must hate democracy!

26 November - 9 December 2021

112-year mayorship comes to an end in Frederiksberg, but it fails to take the gloss off an awesome local election for Konservative CHRISTIAN WENANDE

OLLOWING weeks of campaigning, the 2021 local and regional elections finally reached a climax on November 16. Overall, there was a 67.2 percent turnout – a fair dip from 2017 when 77.4 percent managed it. Corona was blamed for the decline, which resulted in the third-lowest total in 100 years, just ahead of elections in 2009 and 1974. Nine of the ten municipalities with the lowest turnouts were in the capital area. No foreign fanfares! AND ONCE again foreign candidates fared badly. Of the 17 Romanian candidates (15 in the municipalities, two in the regions), none were elected to office. Elsewhere, there were few foreigners elected, although Tønder does have its first German minority mayor since 1946. KI(C)KING butt nationwide AS THE votes trickled in from Denmark’s 98 municipalities over the night of November 16, a picture quickly started to emerge of who the winners and losers of the election were. The undisputed winners were Konservative. Compared to 2017, the party improved in a whopping 92 of the 98 municipalities, and by over 10 percent in 15 of those municipalities. Konservative’s uptick was at 6.4 percent nationwide and the party has already gone from eight mayors in 2017 to 14 in 2021 – its best local election in 36 years. However, it did lose power in Frederiksberg, where it had held the mayoral position for 112 years. It was unable to se-

Not even cLose IN THE regional elections, Venstre’s Stephanie Lose has set a new record for personal votes. She gobbled up 147,485 in the South Denmark Region – almost ten times as many as the region’s runner-up, Mette With Hagensen (15,619). Meanwhile, Mid Jutland Region head Anders Kühnau looks set to become the overall head of Danske Regioner.

Christina can’t be stopped

Konservative leader Søren Pape Poulsen is no doubt a happy man

cure a Blue Bloc majority, and Socialdemokratiet candidate Michael Vindfeldt has taken over the reins. Big guns fade SOCIALDEMOKRATIET got the most votes overall (28.5 percent), but that was a 3.9 percent decrease compared to 2017 and the party lost ground in 70 municipalities. PM Mette Frederiksen’s party secured 47 mayors four years ago – a figure that fell to 43. However, it managed to hold onto power in Copenhagen, Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg, as well as the regions of Zealand, Mid Jutland and the capital, leaving Southern Denmark and North Jutland to Venstre. Nevertheless, Venstre also suffered, sustaining a 1.9 percentage point fall compared to 2017. However, the party landed 35 mayors – just two less than four years ago. DF left in limbo THINGS are really looking dour for Dansk Folkeparti, which endured an absolutely abysmal election across the board.

DF saw a decline in all 98 municipalities and went from securing 8.8 percent of votes nationwide in 2017 to just 4.1 percent. The disastrous election has prompted party head Kristian Thulesen Dahl to call for a complete revamp of the party – including his position. DF’s misery would appear to be Nye Borgerlige’s gain, with the right-wing party snatching up 3.6 percent of the votes – an improvement of 2.7 percentage points compared to 2017. Left bloc gains ENHEDSLISTEN won big in Copenhagen, taking 24.6 percent of the vote – Socialdemokratiet took a heavy 10.3 percentage point decline to land on 17.3 percent – and also won Bornholm. But overall, its gains were not substantial, and it only managed to increase its public vote by 1.4 percent. Other parties that performed better than four years ago were Socialistisk Folkeparti (up 1.9 percentage points), Radikale (+1) and Kristendemokraterne (+0.3).

CHRISTINA Krzyrosiak Hansen hit the headlines four years ago when she became the youngest mayor in Denmark aged just 24. Now, the Holbæk mayor has turned heads again by being re-elected with 46 percent of all personal votes in her municipality – the highest percentage of votes in the entire election.

Like father, like son THE SON of former Danish PM Jens Otto Krag is following in his father’s footsteps, as the Socialdemokratiet (like his old man of course) is the new mayor of Ærø.

Ripped off? That’s politics! MALTE Jäger, 19, a Nye Borgerlige candidate in Kerteminde, was featured in our last edition because he was shirtless on his election poster – “ripped” was how our journo put it. Well, it appears to have paid off, as his 185 votes was enough to see him win a spot on the local city council.

Call for capital revote AN ERROR on the ballot in Copenhagen prompted Frihedslisten candidate Per Brændgaard to call for a new election! Boxes were missing next to four of the party’s candidates.

Former minister fails FORMER minister Manu Sareen failed to get into in Frederiksberg City Hall after getting 271 votes on election day, despite switching over from Radikale to Socialdemokratiet.

26 November - 9 December 2021

ONLINE THIS WEEK

DANES are eating less meat than a year ago, according to a study involving the University of Copenhagen of 10 European countries, but lag behind most others. Some 37 percent of Danes are eating less, compared to a study average of 46 percent. Denmark shared last place with the UK. Many Danes blamed plant-based food for not being nutritional or tasty enough.

Must feel safe in public! THE GOVERNMENT has presented 12 new initiatives to ensure greater security in nightlife, on the streets and around S-train stations. "All Danes must be able to move freely and feel safe – no matter where they go. We simply must not accept when groups of particularly young men resort to violence by making ordinary people feel insecure," said the justice minister, Nick Hækkerup.

Lunar work on Lanzarote THREE astronauts – including Denmark's first man in space, Andreas Mogensen – are currently being trained at the European Volcano Hotspot on Lanzarote as part of a European Space Agency initiative. Selected geologists, engineers and astronauts are being trained in how to explore both lunar and martian landscapes.

Europol crackdown A HUGE Europol-led crackdown across 17 countries took place in early November. The multi-country operation led to over 170 arrests, including five in Denmark. Over three days, the Danish immigration control in south Jutland checked 2,600 vehicles and 6,200 people.

Redefining hate crimes PARLIAMENT looks set to approve further legislation to ensure that an assault, or other such action, can be defined as a hate crime in cases in which the aggravating circumstances – such as the victim’s ethnicity, faith, disability or sexual orientation – are judged to be only partial motives.

Only Dad’s Army can save us now! Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Corona, if you think we’re on the run? BEN HAMILTON

HE COUNTRY is battling to ensure we don’t have to follow the likes of the Netherlands and Austria into a pre-Christmas lockdown. It is “full turbo” with efforts to give the nation a third vaccination jab, according to the battle cry from newly-elected Capital Region head Lars Gaardhøj. This means more centres and more personnel, as the authorities want qualified healthcare workers to come out of retirement and help with the push, along with students. It really does sound like the end of a war.

Increased capacity THE CAPITAL Region will have the capability to jab 100,000 a week from December 1 onwards, while the nationwide capacity will be 300,000. Plans are also afoot to extend the opening hours of the vaccination centres: later in the evenings and on Sundays. While appointments are necessary via vacciner.dk to have a third jab, no appointment is necessary if you are unvaccinated. It is believed that 170,000 people are eligible for a third jab in the Capital Region – out of a total of 578,000 nationwide. Eligibility is obtained once six months have passed since your second jab.

ONLINE THIS WEEK PIXABAY

Less meat, still sceptical

DANISH

Making centre livelier THE HOUSING Ministry is kicking off a partnership to promote livelier centres in rural towns. Five selected test settlements – Rødekro, Vojens, Lemvig, Vordingborg and Ringsted – will follow recommendations in an effort to improve life in towns that struggle with depopulation and mobility issues.

Artist wants to move statue

Even Batgirl needs to get tested

All in the numbers ALREADY, 598,231 people in Denmark have received their third jab. Included are a fair proportion of those who received the Johnson & Johnson, as they only needed to wait three months. Last week, a further 450,000 were invited to have their third jab. In total, 95.8 percent of nursing home residents have been revaccinated, 83.4 percent of those with chronic illnesses, and 79.9 percent of the over-85s. Handing out first jabs is still a huge priority, and it is in urban areas where efforts are chiefly failing. In the North and Central Jutland Regions, 90 percent of all over-12s are vaccinated.

So it is welcome news that a parliamentary majority back plans to suspend the guarantee given to all people in Denmark that they can be treated or examined within 30 days. The healthcare sector is not only struggling with the demands of corona, but also with staff sickness, stress, shortages and strikes.

Sickness, stress, shortages HOSPITAL admissions are increasing – up to 444 as of Tuesday, of which 49 are in intensive care – building pressure on personnel.

24-hour wait IN OTHER corona news, the demand for PCR testing is skyrocketing to the extent that many are having to wait 24 hours for a timeslot to have one. And the US authorities have advised their citizens against travelling to Denmark due to the escalating corona cases. Specifically the CDC authority, which is responsible for disease control and prevention in the USA, has decided to move Denmark up to level four – the same as Germany.

Climate aid earmarked

IKEA duped by suppliers

Water tech drive

SOME 100 million kroner in climate aid has been earmarked for the least developed countries. The bulk of the recipients are in Africa. Room has been found in the Finance Bill for the next budget and the funds were announced at COP26 in Glasgow. Some 60 percent of the sum will go to the ecological transition from 2023.

AN INTERNAL audit of IKEA has revealed that the certification documents for 3,300 wooden products in several Danish shops have been falsified – possibly due to a supplier who cheated on the origin of the materials. The wood was in fact sourced from Siberia, where the fellage exceeds the reproductive capacity of the forest, thus contravening IKEA rules.

DENMARK is launching a new export strategy in the area of water tech in a bid to double the value of its exports to 40 billion kroner by 2030. "It is crucial that Danish expertise gets across the border and that we create more green jobs at home," explained Simon Kollerup, the economic and business affairs minister.

DANISH artist Jens Galschiøt has applied for legal protection for his statue 'Pillar of Shame', which is located outside Hong Kong University, alleging it will be damaged if it is moved. Galschiøt wants the statue, which has a value of 1.4 million US dollars, safely returned to Denmark. Galschiøt sculpted it in 1997 in memory of the Tiananmen Square victims.

Ethiopian statement THE UN and 16 countries, including Denmark, have issued a joint statement on the situation in Ethiopia, denouncing human rights abuses committed during the conflicts in the Tigray region between November 2020 and June 2021. It condemns attacks on civilians, killings, torture, arbitrary detentions, abductions, sexual violence and war crimes.

Tough on drink-drivers DENMARK has the world’s 12th strictest punishments for drink-drivers, according to Confused.com. In Denmark, the average fine is 43,487 kroner (5,031 UK pounds) compared to an average of 3,155. However, it was marked down as prison sentences are rarely given. The UK topped the rankings, followed by South Korea and Singapore.

Unlevel playing field OVER A third of the country's 98 municipalities are victims of an uneven distribution of funding, claims an investigation carried out by TV2. Island municipalities are the worst affected, with Langeland, Samsø, Læsø and Furesø among the most indebted.

SPORT & CULTURE THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK

26 November - 9 December 2021

Bullets to Beijing: anything you can do! DANMARKS ISHOCKEY UNION FACEBOOK PAGE

Geranium to be meat-free

ONLINE THIS WEEK

GERANIUM will eliminate meat from its menu from 2022 onwards, its head chef Rasmus Kofoed has confirmed. Kofoed, himself a vegetarian, told Berlingske “it can be difficult to convince others about something if you don’t fully commit to it”. Geranium was recently placed second in the World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards behind Noma.

Mørkøv’s coronation CYCLINGNEWS has named Michael Mørkøv, 36, as one of its eight 'Invisible Heroes', mostly in praise of his tireless support cycling for Quick Step. In related news, Viktor Axelsen is the favourite to become the Badminton World Federation’s best male player of the year, and the men's national football team are most likely to win Årets Sportsnavn.

Radio station owned

Rise of Rune continues

BERLINGSKE Media’s purchase of further shares in Kulturradio Danmark, the owner of the digital radio channel Radio Loud, has been approved. Last year, the media giant picked up 40 percent and it has now raised the stake to 91 percent. The speech and culture radio station will henceforth be known as 24syv.

HOLGER Rune has won his fourth career Challenger title: this time in Bergamo, Italy, in which he beat the world number 158, Turkey's Cem Ilkel, in the final. Rune was 473rd in the rankings at the beginning of the year, but now stands at number 108.

Bayer’s youngest ever DANISH youngster Zidan Sertdemir recently made his debut for Bayer Leverkusen aged 16 and 276 days. Not only is he the youngest player in the club's history, but the second youngest in Bundesliga history. The former FC Nordsjælland forward came on in the 86th minute against Hertha Berlin.

Now the Fantastic Four GOLFER Joachim B Hansen, 31, won the Dubai Championship on November 14 – his second European Tour victory following the Joburg Open last November. He is the fourth Dane to win on the European Tour since August, after Rasmus Højgaard in Scotland, Nicolai Højgaard in Italy and Jeff Winther in Mallorca.

Believe it! JUSTIN Bieber will be playing Smukfest next year. The 27-yearold Canadian singer will appear on stage on August 3. Smukfest was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021.

Tessa takes top award DANISH rapper Tessa recently won 'Best Nordic Act' at the MTV European Music Awards in Budapest.

Sure, 'fri' to express themselves ... but they can't stop Russell crowing about it

Denmark will have two teams in the Olympic ice hockey next year, and both are making their debuts!

through instead, and the Germans were leading 2-1 deep in the third period. But then the Danish ladies had their very own miracle on ice: first a deflection off a German player to make it 2-2 and then a German shot in the final minute that left the Danish bar shaking.

Double debut NOT ONLY is this the first time that the Danish women have qualified for the Olympic ice hockey – the inaugural tournament was held in 1998 – but they will be joined by the men. In August, the men's team also qualified, again for the first time in their history.

Incredible emotions OVERTIME guaranteed the Danes the point they needed, so the eventual 2-3 loss in the shootout was of no importance. "It was crazy. Everyone was very loud, crying and shouting. I've never experienced anything like that before," 19-year-old defender Sofie Skott Dahl told the International Ice Hockey Federation.

World champs in 2022 MEANWHILE, in related news, it has been confirmed that Denmark will host the Women's World Ice Hockey Championships from 26 August to 4 September 2022, with Herning in central Jutland providing the main arena. The venue for the Group B matches, which Denmark will compete in, has not yet been confirmed.

Outrageous slur!

New Danish TV wave

Girls’ choir scandal

THE PRODUCERS of ‘Skyggen i mit øje’ have made post-release changes following complaints by the family of the British RAF pilot who accidentally bombed the French School in Frederiksberg in 1945, where 86 children lost their lives. The family of Peter Kleboe object to an “outrageous” fictitious inclusion that shows him machine-gunning three Danish wedding guests.

NEW TV releases 'Kamikaze' (HBO Max) and ‘Nisser’ (Netflix), following the success of ‘Kastanjemanden’ (Netflix), have some predicting a second Danish wave similar to the one ridden by 'Borgen', 'Forbrydelsen' and 'Broen'. “They have been good at finding something very 'Danish', which also appeals to international audiences,” HBO Max's Christian Wikander told TV2.

DR PIGEKORET (internationally known as Danish National Girls’ Choir) embroiled in a sex abuse scandal that Kvinfo head Henriette Laursen has described as "the biggest MeToo case in this country". Relating to the years 1970-2010, a 34-page report commissioned by an apologetic DR is based on the interviews of 129 former members. The choir’s members are aged 15-22.

MARIUS ROLLAND

Y TOPPING their qualifying group, the Danish women's ice hockey team have qualified for the Winter Olympics in Beijing next February. But it nearly ended in misery against Germany in their final group game, from which they only needed a point. Miracle on ice A 4-0 TROUNCING of Italy and 1-0 win against Austria put the Danes in pole position to qualify, but defeat would have sent the Austrians or Germans

Most popular ever Bond EVERY sixth person in Denmark has gone to see the new James Bond film 'No Time to Die'. As of last weekend, ticket sales exceeded 1 million, making it the most popular ever Bond film in Denmark. It is the first film to break the million mark since ‘Avatar’ in 2009 and only the 13th since 1976.

Women’s art explosion THE VALUE of works by female artists has been shooting up, the auctioneer Bruun Rasmussen tells DR. It is particularly artists from around 100 years ago – like Gerda Wegener, the wife of Lili Elbe, the central character in ‘The Danish Girl’. Prices are doubling, if not tripling. Previously, auction houses would decline the chance to sell such artworks.

Perfect record ruined DENMARK lost 2-0 in Scotland in their final 2022 World Cup qualifier on November 15, thus blemishing their perfect record, which had previously stood at nine wins in nine. Three days earlier, a streak of eight World Cup qualifying clean sheets in a row was ended by a late Faroese goal in a 3-1 win at Parken, just four games short of the world record.

SCIENCE

26 November - 9 December 2021

ONLINE THIS WEEK

THE CHILDREN of women directly exposed to cleaning products during pregnancy have a 100 percent increased risk of asthma, according to researchers at Aarhus University. The study interviewed 3,000 women and found that those who started a cleaning job more than two years before conception had a 50 percent increased risk. Aerosols are thought to be to blame.

Saving the Mary Rose A DANISH chemist from the University of Copenhagen has helped to develop an advanced new X-ray method used to identify harmful substances that are quietly eating through the remains of the 510-year-old English warship ‘The Mary Rose’.

Fast-tracking drug approval THE NOVO Nordisk Foundation has awarded a 50 million kroner grant to Belgian professor Peter Carmeliet at Aarhus University where he studies methods for rapidly clarifying whether a potential drug is of interest to the pharma industry – a process that usually takes many years and slows the progression of effective new drugs to market.

New whale species UNIVERSITY of Copenhagen experts have helped confirm that a dead whale found in New Zealand 10 years ago was not a Trues Beaked Whale, but a new species. It has been named Ramiri's Beaked Whale in honour of a local Maori woman who flagged the carcass as unusual.

ONLINE THIS WEEK JEAN-LÉON GÉRÔME, 1862

Pregnancy asthma risk

Modernity rooted in satire, not religion! New University of Copenhagen paper argues that religious criticism in the 1100s played a greater role in the spread of democratic values across medieval Europe than Christianity itself LENA HUNTER

ITH THE Holy War, the bloody infighting in Christianity and the general reports of medieval barbarism, it’s common to perceive the Middle Ages as more pious than the atheistic modern era. But that might not be so. In a new paper, ‘The Gospel of Deviance’, satire researcher Dennis Meyhoff Brink from the University of Copenhagen has traced the early roots of religious criticism to the 1100s and argues that satire actually played a greater role in the spread of democratic values in medieval Europe than Christianity itself. The seeds of dissent IT WAS during the 12th century, slap-bang in the middle of the Crusades, that critical writings mocking the pope and his cardinals, accusing them of ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘greed’, first began to surface. Literacy rates then were relatively low. “The satire of religion in the Middle Ages was an underground phenomenon, disseminated anonymously by a few learned men. It really took off with the invention of

Grant for plant THE CONSTRUCTION of a 100 MW electrolysis plant, which uses ‘Power-to-X’ tech to convert renewable solar and wind energy into hydrogen fuel, has just received 30 million euros from the EU Horizon 2020 program. The GreenHyScale project, which is supported by DTU, is located in the green industrial park GreenLab in Skive.

Data centre worries "But if God doesn't exist, who created these divine hats?"

printing in the 15th century and the Reformation in the 16th,” explains Brink. His thesis documents the crossover of tropes of religious satire into mainstream art and literature. Engrained in art “ T H E P L AY W R I G H T Molière's play ‘Tartuffe’ from 1664 is a model example. It exhibits religious authority as deceptive and hypocritical. It was so successful that words like 'tartuffery' began to appear in dictionaries to denote hypocrisy,” says Brink. He posits that this example, and many like it, of change in language and imagination wrought by satire had lasting effects on popular perceptions of authority and the self. “Satire offers us a different perspective. Especially in the Age of Enlightenment, it gave Europeans the courage to step

out of our submission to the state and church. That's what the Enlightenment philosopher Kant is talking about when he describes the 'enlightened man',” he continues. A formative influence BRINK therefore claims that satire proved to be more influential in the spread of democracy than Christianity. “Satire is a special form of criticism. It exposes the abuse of power and privileges, and it takes liberties that other types of criticism cannot," he ventures. “It was extremely widespread in Europe. It’s very likely that it has had a formative influence on European culture.” And satire is very much alive today. After all, some would go as far as arguing that many people have learned more about the teachings and death of Christ from ‘The Life of Brian’ than ‘The New Testament’!

ENERGY-HUNGRY data centres could jeopardise the EU's goal to become CO2-neutral by 2050, as they are forecast to increase national energy consumption by 17 percent by 2031. Cool-Data argues we must rethink the way the climate footprints of data centres are calculated, match the power consumption with green electricity and reuse the surplus heat generated.

Bottom-feeding bacteria SDU RESEARCHERS have discovered a certain type of bacteria that thrives 10km below sea level under extreme pressure. Anammox bacteria 'eat' nitrogen compounds in the form of ammonium and nitrite and convert these into nitrogen gas, which is the main component in the atmosphere.

Mapping tick bites IF YOU, your child or your pet get bitten by a tick, you can now register the Danish location of the bite at flåtinfo.dk to help researchers map their prevalence.

BUSINESS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

ONLINE THIS WEEK

AS A STARTUP ecosystem, Copenhagen improved slightly compared to last year, according to StartupBlink. It jumped six spots to rank 61st globally. It ranked in the top 50 for E-commerce & Retail Technology, Education Technology, Energy & Environment Technology, and Hardware & IoT. The San Francisco Bay area finished top, followed by New York, Beijing, LA and London.

Lundbeck lay-offs PHARMA company Lundbeck has laid off about 300 employees. Around 100 were let go in India and 100 in the United States. The company relates the redundancies to inefficiency rather than a lack of sales, as it is expecting a total turnover of 16.3-16.6 billion kroner for 2021. According to Finans, the expectation is in line with the analysts' forecast.

Coloplast’s huge acquisition DENMARK'S largest medical company Coloplast has acquired its Swedish counterpart Atos Medical. The 16 billion kroner acquisition, according to MedWatch, is Coloplast's largest ever. The acquisition deadline is March, and the growth strategies of both companies remain unchanged. Atos Medical's global HQ is in Malmö.

Bank estimate lowered DANSKE Bank expects an 8.59 percent return on equity in 2023, which is a lower estimate than previously expected.

Danish and German business are fist-bumping Even if their leaders can't quite pull it off! BEN HAMILTON

HE MEDIA took a big interest in the attendance of the queen and her heir, Crown Prince Frederick, on the recent trade delegation to Germany. After all, worth 144 billion kroner a year, Germany is Denmark’s biggest export market. “The Queen and the Crown Prince must open doors for Danish business in the midst of a German political power vacuum,” blazed the DR headline. “It is of great importance that the Queen and the Crown Prince open doors down here,” Dansk Erhverv chief executive Brian Mikkelsen, a former minister, concurred to DR. “Their ability to open doors at the very highest level is unique. The Danish companies that are down here get access to the German top brass. It really is the A level.”

September 26 elections! The man most likely to become chancellor is Olaf Scholz, a social democrat who needs the help of the Green Party and the FDP ´liberals. Pundits expect him to formally succeed Merkel next month. Once Scholz's coalition takes power, it is expected to announce a comprehensive digitalisation of the public sector and a faster green transition to make Germany climate-neutral – two areas that Denmark excels in. “No-one is better than us when it comes to digitising the public sector,” Mikkelsen told DR. “So it means a great deal if the new government is going to invest massively in that area. Danish companies will really be able to bid with many solutions.”

ONLINE THIS WEEK EKELON

Startup improvements

26 November - 9 December 2021

Denmark wooing Germany

raised her hand to her chest apologetically, leaving Merkel clutching at air. Merkel then returned the gesture, before taking the monarch on a walk through the Brandenburg Gate – a favoured choice for state visits. The photos have been doing the rounds ever since, with some media commenting on how it looked like the pair were having a game of Rock Paper Scissors! Merkel, ever the worker, is pictured producing a stone, and the queen, an acclaimed artist in her own right, the paper. So 1-0 to Denmark!

Perfect match GERMANY is still waiting for a new chancellor to replace Angela Merkel some 60 days after the

Faux pas at greeting HOWEVER, while the Danish media is enthralled, the likes of the Daily Mail and CNN have been getting their kicks from another aspect of the tour: an embarrassing greeting between the queen and Merkel. When Merkel went to fistbump Her Majesty, the sovereign

Maersk merger

Corona can’t kill it

Laureate in town

MAERSK Drilling will change its name following its merger with competitor Noble. Shareholders will share 50 percent of the shares in the new company, Noble Corporation. Noble's current CEO, Robert W Eifler, will continue to manage the company, whose HQ will be in Houston.

THE TOTAL turnover of green goods and services during pandemic-hit 2020 amounted to almost 251 billion kroner, which is only 1 percent less than in 2019, reports Danmarks Statistik. However, the bureau of national statistics admits the estimates for 2020 are 26 percent more than in 2015.

NOBEL Prize winner Maria Ressa attended the Tech for Democracy conference in Copenhagen conference on November 18 that addressed how technology can support democracy and human rights. It also touched on the possible misuse of tech to oppress, monitor, censor and control populations.

Major index increases THE TOTAL producer price index for goods in October 2021 increased by 22.4 percent, compared to the same month last year, reports Danmarks Statistik. It is the highest annual increase since July 2008. The import price index for goods increased by 13.5 percent in the same period, which is the highest increase in the index's history.

Rural mortgage help MANY DANES are turned down for a mortgage when buying property in the countryside. However, that situation looks set to change as state guarantees could be made available on home purchases, reports DR.

Needs a boost! DANISH vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic is expecting the results of its phase 2 trials of its booster vaccine in December. Successful results should enable phase 3 trials and eventually approval to give the Danish-produced booster to the public. Bavarian Nordic could do with a boost itself, as its Q3 results revealed a loss of 81 million kroner.

GDP is buoyant DENMARK’S GDP rose by 2 percent between July and September, according to Danmarks Statistik. Developments in several service industries, such as hotels, restaurants and travel agencies, were the main drivers.

26 November - 9 December 2021

BUSINESS OPINION

WINNIE TANGO IN WINNIE'S WORLD There are business opportunities everywhere for expats in a new country, as we all have different backgrounds and skills to stand out: all you need is a crazy gut instinct to discover the gap in the market. Winnie’s real estate business is testament to how one can succeed. Follow her on LinkedIn at ‘Winnie Tang Tango’.

Be brave! PERSISTENCE requires bravery: the confidence to leave our comfort zone, make sacrifices when necessary and to take the opportunity when it presents itself. Maintain a helicopter view of your dream, as an overview of the little rocks on the journey is key to being resilient on your path to your goal. Especially as internationals in a new country, we must utilise our strengths – for example, our understanding of different cultures and markets.

ED LEY FIT FOR BUSINESS CEOs and Olympic medal-winning athletes come to Ed (edley. net) for help to optimise their physical and mental performance. Using neuroscience and body work techniques, his methods improve their energy, health, fulfilment and well-being. And as the co-host of the Global Denmark podcast, he has his finger on issues pertinent to expats in Denmark. NEXT ISSUE

Not making assumptions – the skill of not being controlled by the brain’s need to complete an unfinished story with guesses in order to feel safe. The leader learns to hold off and ask questions. Not taking anything personally – other people’s actions are never about us. They are always about them, but the brain sees itself as the centre of the universe. It

The path to your goal can appear barren, but carry on!

Weighing up risk I DON’T mind admitting that I am a risk taker. But really I prefer the term ‘opportunity taker’. This more positive term reflects my optimistic mindset, and positivity breeds success. It’s

just a term, but I always maintain that small things make a big difference. And really, the word ‘risk’ is a little hackneyed. I hear it too many times, and it should not be the reason to give up on your dreams.

takes things personally and becomes reactive as a result. Not gossiping – it creates false reputations and spreads poison throughout a company fast. The skilled leader speaks only to the individual about their concerns. Protecting and growing their time and energy – as a leader you can no longer just do the work in front of you. There will always be more work than you have time or energy for. You must master the skill of knowing what to do and what not to do. Protecting your time and energy is what will allow you to do this. Learning from failure – not just big ones but cultivating the habit and the culture of using a lens of failure to cultivate excellence in work, culture and systems.

By all means calculate your risk and set yourself limits – unpleasant consequences should always be avoided. But remember that there are risks involved in almost everything. PIXABAY

HE BRAIN is a survival machine that creates survival mechanisms to protect itself socially. And many of these protection mechanisms can inadvertently cause problems inside an organisation. Leaders own their own emotions and behaviours in response to what is happening around them. They have mastered these eight skills to avoid being taken over by these mechanisms.

Don’t succumb to fear DON’T LET fear kill the opportunity; always keep moving. Don’t invest too much thought in worrying about failure. Fretting about customers and finding a market, or failing altogether, will only distract you from the path. If you believe in your project and see the opportunity, then your main focus and effort must be on making it successful. Channel your fear. Make it the driving force to motivate you to achieve success. Don’t succumb to it.

Maintaining overview – to keep your head when all around are losing theirs. Stakeholders will approach you with urgency attempting to make their urgency yours. Overview and calmness are the skills to master, not taking in other people’s urgency. Extraction over instructions – this is the skill a leader must master in order to not become the bottleneck of the business. Your job is to create a company with a plan, NOT to be the person with the plan.

Open the door!

We are all wired to do the opposite of these things: to assume,

to take things personally, gossip, give others what they want, to deny failure, to mirror others' emotions, to tell people what to do and to be vague and imprecise. A leader’s job is to cultivate the skill of knowing and growing themselves, whilst not letting these things spread through the company. Which of these most need your attention right now?

Never being misunderstood – misunderstandings cause many unnecessary errors within a company. Clear, skilful and precise communication starts with the leader.

PIXABAY

ET'S TALK about persistence and resilience. Both are important on our journey to success: persistence in the pursuit of our dream, and resilience to the challenges life throws at us.

IN 2 ISSUES

IN 3 ISSUES

IN 4 ISSUES

IN 5 ISSUES

The Valley of Life

Just Say It As It Is

Startup Community

Get Your Biering’s

Union Views

UK-DK Trade

Global Denmark

Give Yourself a Chance

Danish Capital in 2021

Stress Wärnings

10 OPINION

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

26 November - 9 December 2021

And the true winner is ...

HE LOCAL elections are local, but they mirror the temperature of our national politics.

Denmark’s first gay PM? CAN A NEW leader save DF? Well, Konservative’s got the t-shirt.

Mette through the mixer THAT COULD be the reality in 18 months’ time at the next general election (mandatorily by 4 June 2023), as the PM, impressive during the pandemic, is losing ground for the first time in her tenure. There’s no end to Minkgate and Mette getting grilled by the press over erased SMSs that may have contained interesting conversations between those in power. They may, for all we know, be completely innocent, but nobody knows and that is not good for the straight upper-lip she displays. It’s no surprise that Socialdemokratiet had its poorest election result for decades, although it continues to hold power in Copenhagen and several other strongholds. It lost truckloads of votes to Enhedslisten’s call for a revolution in Copenhagen – it proposed eliminating 30 percent of all parking spots! – but the extreme left party could never expect the majority needed to take the top job. It was daring but ultimately suicidal. (ES)

Mackindergarten British writer and performer Adrian Mackinder (adrianmackinder.co.uk) and his pregnant Danish wife moved from London to Copenhagen in September 2015. He now spends all his time wrestling with fatherhood, the unexpected culture clash and being an Englishman abroad.

FLICKR/ JACOB BØTTER

Rudderless DF lost at sea MOST SIGNIFICANTLY, Dansk Folkeparti (DF), the largest blue party six years ago, lost more than 60 municipal council seats. Its leader, Kristian Thulesen Dahl, has resigned, and a new chair will be elected in January in the hope the tide can be turned. It’s ironic that January will come too early for the candidates who first come to mind. Morten Messerschmidt has appealed against his fraud conviction and might lose his seat in Parliament if found guilty again. While renegade ex-minister Inge Støjberg, currently up to her neck in a constitutional case accused of unconstitutional baby-bride separations, needs four months of DF membership to become electable. The outsider is Martin Henriksen. Fired from his consultancy job with the party for disloyalty, he advocates further austerity for foreigners as a means of fighting Nye Borgerlige. DF cannot be blamed for other parties adopting its immigration policies, but only has itself to blame for its bizarre blackmailing of the former Venste government over matters such as the relocation of the radio station 24/7 away from Copenhagen. Worst was its insistence on a railway line to Billund Airport and a bypass for Mariager – with no documented need but the personal whim of local DF dignitaries.

Just eight years ago, it only scored 2.6 percent in the polls. This time it’s the undisputed winner with over 10 percent of the national vote and the mayor’s golden chain in more cities than ever (although it did lose Frederiksberg after 112 consecutive years of power). Konservative’s proudly gay leader Pape Poulsen, who has lost weight and gained support, today heads the largest blue party according to the national polls. It will be interesting to see if he can come up with the more liberal policy on foreigners he needs to reach out to Radikale and make them swing from red to blue.

ADRIAN MACKINDER

E’VE HAD our bathroom done. I didn’t want this, but I was outvoted by virtue of being British and therefore having no idea about interiors apparently. My wife, on the other hand, is Danish and can therefore detect bad interior design with her eyes closed. To be fair to her, the bathroom had seen better days. Where we live is 120 years old and needs a little nip and tuck. So we agreed to use what little savings we had to spruce up the bathroom.

Like a US bathroom ... MAYBE we really did this because it feels disingenuous calling it a ‘bathroom’. Like most bathrooms in Copenhagen, there’s never been a bath in it. It’s barely a room: more a cupboard with a shower head. Of course, stumbling upon an actual bath in Copenhagen is even rarer than sighting Bigfoot. Sure, we’ve heard rumours, but evidence is scarce and eyewitness accounts are unreliable. So in the interest of factual accuracy, we no longer have a bathroom, but a wet room. And I won’t lie, I’m not a fan. Wet across all ledges! IF YOU don’t know what a wet room is, let me elaborate. You remove the cordoned-off shower area and let the water just cascade onto the entire floor. Eventually it drains off, but to help it on its way, you then take one of those handheld, rubber-tipped car windscreen wipers, bend down and scrape the water towards the drain. It’s a degrading experience to be squatting wet and naked,

A shit, shave and shower all in one

pushing tepid water towards the sewer. For a country where the standard of living is so high, this feels strangely primitive. And grotty. But here we are. Bathed in bilingualism IN OTHER news we are currently trying to choose where to send our son to school. He turns six in December, but we agreed with his kindergarten that he holds off school an extra year. His bilingual status has resulted in his Danish not quite being up to speed with his monolingual peers. We could have just thrown him in at the deep end and hoped he’ll catch up fast, but he’s a sensitive boy and we felt a few extra months to get more confident speaking the language of his homeland couldn’t hurt. Despite being born and raised here, it’s interesting that his grasp of English is better than

his Danish. But apparently when very young, bilingual kids will gravitate towards the ‘easiest’ language, and as any of us who have attempted to learn Danish will attest, this makes a lot of sense. But we’re confident he’ll be right on track when he goes to school. Luck of the flannel drawer I MUST confess as the expat: I do feel a little out of my depth finding a school here. I have no cultural point of reference and so have to go with a lot of my wife’s gut instincts. International or Danish? Private or public? Down the road or across town? I guess we are lucky to have so many options. At the end of the day, a lot of it is down to luck how he gets on. And as long as he can describe in both languages the difference between a bathroom and a wetroom I’ll be happy.

OPINION

26 November - 9 December 2021

NEXT ISSUE

SIBYLLE DE VALENCE

Green Spotlight

A Dane Abroad KIRSTEN LOUISE PEDERSEN

Sibylle is a French journalist, columnist and author who writes for a variety of French, English and Italian language-publications, specialising on the green transition. Having lived and worked in San Francisco, Milan, Berlin, Rome, Calgary and Paris, she speaks five languages. Follow her on Instagram at sibdevalence

Matter of life or death COP26, THE recent 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, reminded us that significantly higher ambitions and action are needed in order to limit the Earth’s warming to 1.5 degrees this century – the goal set by the

Living Faith REVD SMITHA PRASADAM EXPERIMENTARIUM

XPERIMENTARIUM’S latest exhibition ‘Klimatopia’ invites visitors to travel into the future. Back to which future THREE girls from the future have accidentally crashed into the present. Midori, Kiiro and Aka come from three different versions of Earth in 100 years. In Midori's future world, the climate goals have been reached and the world is better balanced. Kiiro’s world is lacking resources and the climate is unstable. In Aka's, ecosystems are collapsing, water levels have risen sharply and we humans have had to adapt to a daily life of deprivation. Our mission as guests is to send the three girls back to one of the three future worlds, but their final destination will depend on the choices we make today in our everyday lives: the food we eat, the transport we use, the electricity and heating we use, and the things we buy. Without a doubt, ‘Klimatopia’ is worth the trip to the museum on its own, particularly if you haven’t started your Christmas shopping. It provides relevant scientific excuses to explain to family and friends why you’ve avoided the holiday gift overload this year: just lay the blame on our great-grandchildren who refuse to live in Aka’s world!

IN 2 ISSUES

Early Rejser ADAM WELLS

Crazier than Christmas VIVIENNE MCKEE IN 3 ISSUES

Straight Up Enough of this Experimentarium! Get me outta this future!

Paris Agreement back in 2015. “We will never know when the tide raises and swallows our homes,” an activist from Papua New Guinea, representing vulnerable countries at risk of losing so much, told COP26 delegates. Massive floods, devastating wildfires and rising seas are only a few of the consequences. “This is not something that’s 10, 20 or 30 years down the road: this is now, and we have to act now,” echoed former US president Barack Obama. The pandemic has demonstrated the level of resilience the world is able to endure. Build back better, greener THE DARKER the days, the more we witness a world that is struggling to restart after already a year and a half of a costly pandemic, which is still log-jamming ports with goods all around the world. With record-breaking lines of container cargos outside major ports, all kinds of products are sitting on ships awaiting their turn to offload. It’s a metaphor

for how our economies need a sustainable recovery. “We still have a chance,” Dan Jørgensen, our minister for climate, energy and utilities, announced optimistically, despite a last-minute move by India and China that nearly saw COP26 end with no agreement. But in the end at least the climate talks succeeded in keeping the process alive. Luckily, we live in a country that is paving the way by setting ambitious climate goals through its Climate Act. The Danish agenda is aggressive when dealing with climate change. After all, Denmark only accounts for only 0.1 percent of global emissions. “If Denmark disappeared tomorrow, the carbon reduction might not even register,” Jørgensen told Yale University on September 23. “We want to show the world that you can have a decarbonised economy that is wealthy, where its people enjoy a high quality of life.” So, a bit like in Midori’s green world.

ZACH KHADUDU

An Actor’s Life IAN BURNS IN 4 ISSUES

The Road Less Taken JESSICA ALEXANDER

Mishra’s Mishmash MRUTYUANJAI MISHRA IN 5 ISSUES

Straight, No Chaser STEPHEN GADD

Englishman in Nyhavn JACK GARDNER

12 LIFESTYLE: KIDS THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

26 November - 9 December 2021

KATE MONTEATH COPEN' WITH THE KIDS A former kids radio host and now head of content for a leading family activity guide, Kate is back in DK with her backpack full to the brim of experiences. With her basecamp set up in Copenhagen along with hubby and son, she is on the topsy-turvy journey of what you call parenting. Follow her on Instagram @katemonteath

F I TOLD you the S-word taught my kid Danish, you might jump to conclusions. But no, not that S-word, but something almost more controversial – at least in the world of moms and dads. Screen time! I know, I said it. And there is probably some toe-curling Karen losing her wings out there right now, but really, it isn’t all that bad. If anything, screen time played a huge role in helping to settle my son into life here in Denmark. First of all, I am not talking about sticking a smart pad in front of your child’s face 24/7 while they watch mindless content. It’s all about balance – but once you find it, coupled with other activities, screen time can be amazing for your child’s development. The børnehave blues LET’S HEAD back to March 2021: my four-year-old son’s Danish vocabulary mainly consists of ‘ja’, ‘nej’ and ‘chokolade’. We have just come off more than two months of lockdown with minimal to no social activity – and it is his first time joining any kind of daycare setting. It would be tough on any child having to spend most of the day with strangers, speaking a totally different language. And needless to say, we go through months of very challenging morning routines complete with tears, refusal to leave the house and bribery involving any candy imaginable.

There’s a new kid in town THEN ONE day, I did something that would jumpstart my son’s transformation. It was so simple that I can’t believe I hadn’t done it much earlier: I changed the language of all his cartoons to Danish – and there it was. EUREKA! I am not the type to over-exaggerate, so when I say that everything seemed to change overnight, it really did. It started off small with him uttering the odd Danish word or phrase here and there. Then soon after, I would catch my son having a Danish convo with his teachers. Or I would see him playing with his friends – in Danish! I was stunned. Not only was his Danish getting much better, his confidence was seemingly sprouting out of nowhere. Go with what works SOMETHING clicked that day his car-

toons went from English to Danish. In under a month, my son’s brain was able to take his familiarity of the shows, its characters and stories, connect the dots and open up his understanding of this new language. Of course, I also give his kindergarten teachers their due credit, as they have been instrumental in getting my boy to where he is today, but screen time helped facilitate and reiterate that learning at home.

ticles out there to scare you off handing your child a smart screen for anything – but I wanted to share a good reason to do it. With the help of purpose-driven screen time, my son transformed from an anxious and shy kid to one of the goofiest and loudest in the bunch at kindergarten. So, if my boy has a little more screen time than what is considered ‘appropriate’ by frowning no-sayers these days, I can totally live with that.

But be responsible AGAIN, it is all about finding that balance, and in my experience, screen time can be a great little helper (see factbox). The trick is to make it work for you and not against you. By now, most parents know of the harmful effects of exposing kids to too much screen time. There are countless ar-

- You have a purpose in mind when handing your child a screen

SCREEN TIME BENEFITS

- Your child watches age-appropriate and good-quality digital content - You balance out screen time with other (non-screen) activities

LIFESTYLE: DATING

26 November - 9 December 2021

MAROUA SAJEB DATING THE DANES Maroua (marouasajeb.com) is a dating coach who helps women to attract men with meaningful romantic connections. Maroua, who managed to turn around her dating life from horrorland to a fun playground, is open to grabbing a coffee over Zoom with anyone who wants to talk about their dating situation. Connect with her via facebook.com/maroua.saj.

T WAS SUMMER 2016 when I moved to Copenhagen. And as soon as the plane landed at the airport, I rushed my way through to join my beloved non-Danish boyfriend. But in the few moments I stood waiting for my luggage, my vision got utterly compromised. It was as if I’d been struck by the lightning of some beautiful creatures. Not really, it was just the Danes. I was enchanted, but not prepared for what was coming. Dreamboat on the Metro WE MADE it to the Metro, holding hands, all lovey-dovey and excited about our new chapter. However, the universe had other plans. All the stars aligned for me that day, and within two stops in our journey, the seat in front of us was taken by who else but my biggest male fantasy of all time. A blond version of the iconic model from D&G light blue ad, David Gandy. I NEXT ISSUE

know, I know, I am not supposed to stare at people – my mother taught me some manners – but my God, I had no say over my blushing face. Sorry Mom, and sorry Boyfriend – we have our moments. The rest of the journey was me trying to mediate between my faithful heart (“Girl, breathe, you came here for your lover and friend …”), my commanding heart (“Don’t look, don’t look … stop looking”), and my hormones, which were having a party on their own, dancing to the beats of Dora the explorer (“WE DID IT, WE DID IT, YEAH, WE DID IT”). Stripped, smiling, sozzled I MEAN, it would have been really nice to get a little warning sign before leaving the airport, like “Attention, hormonal reaction ahead”, “Coming up: brutal relationship check-up” or “No biking IN 2 ISSUES

for sensitive souls”. And yes, things did not get easier once on a bike. It was hard enough to learn how to cycle again, let alone to be expected not to look around at the attractive crowds. Mind you, I arrived on one of the hottest days of summer and, as you might have noticed already, Danish people have very little tolerance for heat. Result, too much skin, a great deal of booze and loads of free ‘summer’ smiles for all. At that point, it just got confusing for me and I even had to put a pin on my sexual orientation and fight the forces within to not end up in a bike crash. Nirvana … sorry Nyhavn AS A FELLOW expat I must warn you though from the most dangerous zone. It's by the inner harbour bridge in Nyhavn. Things are taken up a notch at IN 3 ISSUES

that level: sexy mature men on boats, sunbathing all around the harbour and booming happiness. Yes, it’s a high hormone radiation zone. I usually joke to my girlfriends on our way to Reffen: “Girls, we need to make it there in one piece.” Oh yeah, my boyfriend. I guess there’s no need to say, given this introduction, that we gave our relationship a fair try for two additional years, but it didn't work. Coming out of that, I was clueless about dating, but very curious about being single in this land of attractive people. I have heard some good stories, with a happy ever after, but mostly real horror. But the naive me at that time was still thinking: how bad can it be; these Danish men are so beautiful. So I jumped straight into the Danish dating pond and joined Tinder. IN 4 ISSUES

All Things Beautiful

Style Stil

Building Green Habits

Ed Talk

Taste Bud

Mental Kinda Health

Up the Alternative Alley

What a Wonderful World

14 HISTORY

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

26 November - 9 December 2021

You only die twice: when the Grim Reaper and gravedigger both come knocking

POLLY DAVIS

APPILY, taphophobia – the fear of being buried alive – is a phobia on the way out. But in Copenhagen back in the 1700s, taphophobia was a definite thing – and for good reason, as the tragic case of Gietrud Birgitte Bodenhoff illustrates. 18th century ‘It girl’ IN 1796 GIETRUD was a girl with the world at her feet. She was a beautiful 17-year-old from a prominent family, engaged to be married to Andreas Bodenhoff – the son of one of the wealthiest and most influential merchant families in all of Copenhagen. Home for the happy newlyweds was the impressive Boels Gård at Nyhavn 20 and everything seemed to be set for a long and happy life together. However, just two years after their wedding, bad luck struck and her young husband died. At the tender age of 19, Gietrud was now a widow – albeit one of the city’s richest. And her run of bad luck continued. Only a few years later, she suffered from a toothache, which developed into an infection that ended her life at the tender age of 19. At the time, the cause of death was thought to be the infection and possibly an overdose of the opium drops she had taken to soothe the pain. As was the custom, the funeral took place just days later and the body of the beautiful young widow was laid to rest next to her husband in the family grave in Assistens Cemetery in Nørrebro. This could have been the end of her tragic story had it not been for a speculative grave digger. Revived then neutralised THE NIGHT after the funeral, he decided that the grave of

such a wealthy widow could well provide an extra source of income. Under the cover of darkness, he opened the grave, used his lantern to check for any valuables and had his suspicions immediately confirmed. Gietrud had indeed been buried with her beautiful jewellery. Ready to make some easy money, the gravedigger cum graverobber quickly took off her earrings and pocketed them. However, getting hold of her ring required the extra effort of cutting off her finger. He found a spot in the grave to place his lantern, got out his knife and started cutting it off when he got the shock of his life as the corpse of Gietrud started screaming with pain. As can be imagined, the graverobber was wholly unprepared for this turn of events and was instantly seized with panic. At the same time, in spite of her bizarre situation, Gietrud realised the necessity of fast action and started pleading with her attacker for help to return to the land of the living. She promised him riches, wealth and even the chance of a new start in life in America. But in spite of her generous offer, and increasingly desperate entreaties, he killed her, sealed up her grave and left as fast as his legs would carry him. Urban legend confirmed HAD THE gravedigger not been so affected by the events of that night, this strange tale would have stayed in the grave with Gietrud. Yet throughout his life, he would allude to what had happened and on his deathbed he ended up confessing his grisly deed to a priest. This fuelled ghoulish rumours that the grave had been robbed and the young widow murdered in her coffin – hearsay that persisted right up until the middle of the 20th century when in 1953 one of her descendants was finally given permission to dig up the grave and see if there was any truth to the story.

POLLY DAVIS

How stories like Gietrud Birgitte Bodenhoff’s fuelled the fear of being buried alive in the 18th and early 19th centuries

Talk about a lavish grave. It's a wonder they didn't advertise the jewels in Politiken

The grave was duly opened and to everyone’s astonishment the corpse of Gietrud was found lying in a contorted position. Her arms were stretched out by her sides and her legs were twisted, one under the other, as if she had been in a violent struggle – and there was no jewellery. Over 150 years later, the rumours that the tragic young widow had been buried alive and then robbed and murdered in her grave were finally confirmed. To the modern mind, the events that led to the burial of Gietrud seem utterly incomprehensible. Yet back in the late 1700s, death itself was often surrounded by a degree of uncertainty. This was even more true if the person had been in a coma, as was probably the case with Gietrud who had been taking opium for pain relief. At the same time, the law stated that burials had to take place quickly after death, which didn’t make it any less likely that someone could be sent to rest in a live state. Yesteryear's arachnophobia THAT IS why at the time of Gietrud’s death, taphophobia was a very real and common fear. In fact, the famous Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen was so worried about

being buried alive that he left a note on his bedside table each night saying: “I only appear to be dead”. His logic was that if he was found incapacitated the next day, his note would ensure his doctors did a thorough check. Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist and engineer, was also so terrified of being buried alive that he left a clause in his will demanding that the doctor who declared him dead had to slash his wrists before he could be buried. In the 18th and early 19th centuries there were so many people who shared these fears of dying a second time in the grave that inventors spent time creating solutions. These so-called security coffins varied in design, but all had features enabling the ‘corpse’ to attract attention. The most primitive had a tube that protruded above ground allowing the body to firstly breathe and secondly call for help. Other security coffins were more sophisticated with feeding tubes, locks, keys and escape systems. One variant even involved ropes attached to the body’s hands and feet that were linked to bells in the chapel. If the body moved, the person would be saved by the bell so to speak. But foolproof as it may sound, this design failed to take account of the fact that corpses often swell

during the decomposition phase, which would cause the ropes to move and send out a false alarm. Taphophobia fuelled by cases such as Gietrud’s finally led to the introduction of death certificates in 1829. Nobody could be laid to rest before such a document had been created stating a cause of death. These certificates were first introduced in the capital of Copenhagen and later spread throughout Denmark. However, this strangely lifesaving piece of bureaucracy came too late for Gietrud, one of the poor souls unlucky enough to suffer the misfortune of dying twice.

Polly Davis (@cornersofdenmark) was born in the UK and has lived in Denmark for over 20 years. When she is not researching stories to use on her guided tours of the city, she works as a freelance copywriter.

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16 CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

26 November - 9 December 2021

Hell or Hallelujah? Don’t let corona kiss goodbye to another Xmas!

AST YEAR, many of the traditional Christmas markets in Copenhagen were cancelled. Theatre shows and recitals of ‘Handel’s Messiah’ were also impossible. A corona lockdown from December 9 made it impossible to go out for a drink or meal, and sightings of Santa were rarer than moments of sunshine. It was as if the northern hemisphere was finally heeding the immortal words of the Sheriff of Nottingham: “Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas.” Better Xmas prospects THIS YEAR, it’s really hard to know what to expect, but the signs are good that there won’t be any serious restrictions. Corona passes are needed to access the restaurants and bars, and there are capacity limits on most venues. But the government seems committed to keeping society open, which is good news for everyone who doesn’t want to spend the Christmas season watching HBO Max. Beyond the markets ON THE next page of this newspaper you’ll find a wide range of Christmas markets. The more garish tend to be open every day,

and the more crafts-orientated ones open for a limited time only. And then on page 18, you’ll find a page of events for the fortnight ahead: some are Chrismassy and others not so much, but rest assured that our next paper (out on December 9) will be crammed full with festive fodder. In conjunction with Eliaskirken, we’re releasing a special 16-page edition dedicated to the Danish Christmas. In the meantime, we thought it might be apt to select a few activities worthy of your consideration over the next couple of months. Just like Torvill & Dean WITHOUT a doubt, there’s no better winter activity than ice skating, and the capital is well catered to. Leading the way is Copenhagen Zoo (open daily 10:00-16:00) with a rink open until the end of Week 7 that enables visitors to pirouette whilst peering at the panda and penguins. A Christmas market, music, snacks, 500,000 lights, reindeer petting and daily appearances by Santa provide a bit of extra flourish. Just over the bridge from Nyhavn, you’ll find Broens Skøjtebane (open daily until 21:00), a rink with wintry views over the harbour. Admittance is free, but skate hire will set you back 50 kroner an hour. Regular events, bars and food stalls ensure you can make a whole evening out of it. Finally, there’s always something special about the rink at Frederiksberg Runddel near the main entrance to the famous park.

FLICKR/JONAS SMITH

Just in case we’re restricted this Christmas, here’s a round-up of the activities we should still be able to do, regardless of what’s open

Come on Torvill & Dean, it's your time to shine

A trip back in time STAYING outdoors, why not try Frilandsmuseet, one of the oldest open-air museums in the world, where you get to experience the history of the Danish countryside. Across the grounds, you can visit fully-furnished buildings recreated from the 1650s to the 1950s, frozen in time to give visitors a glimpse of the past and Christmas traditions through the ages. Take a ride on the horse-drawn carriage, and maybe even catch a glimpse of a mischievous nisse: a type of elf that likes to play tricks on unsuspecting farmers. Or head on over to the kitchens, where bakers can be found grinding fresh flour from wheat grown on the grounds, filling the air with the smell of biscuits in the oven. Families can get together to make their own Christmas decorations at the museum workshop. And children (for whom it’s free to enter) can meet some of the museum’s many animals: which include horses, pigs, sheep, and chickens.

Like the end in Titanic A DECADE ago, it was a novelty. Today winter bathing is the norm, and most practitioners don’t need a sauna to jump into after a swim in freezing waters. But if you don’t have a warm car to get into after your bracing dip, then you could do worse than visiting Copenhot (open Wed-Sun 12:00-19:00; Refshalevej 325, Cph K) where newcomers are given an introduction to winter bathing. Instructors will take you on a 90-minute journey from hot to cold and across the Baltic Sea. Because once you’re in the fire-heated sauna with panoramic views of the harbour, the coldness will seem like a distant memory. And you can even take a tour of the harbour in a luxury ‘sailing hot tub’. Remember that a law change has made it a punishable offence to swim in Copenhagen waters not designated as an official bathing zone, so should

you not want to pay to winter bathe, you’re best advised going to Kalvebod Bølge in Vesterbro. Down the gløgg hole HVIIDS Vinstue is famous for many things, but best among them is their winter mulled wine, or – as the Danes aptly call it, gløgg. Taste all the warming winter spices of cinnamon, orange and cloves, infused in sweetened red wine, and served hot at Copenhagen’s oldest pub. Right at the heart of the city, in Kongens Nytorv, Hviids Vinstue (Kongens Nytorv 19; open Mon-Thur 10:00-01:00, Fri-Sat 10:00-02:00, Sun 10:00-20:00) has seen nearly 300 years of the city’s history – and it’s worth a visit for the atmosphere alone. The bar’s deep mahogany furniture illuminated by candlelight makes you feel like you’re stepping back into history, with stain-glass windows and paintings of the pub’s past patrons looking on.

CHRISTMAS MARKETS

26 November - 9 December 2021

Norwegian Xmas market

Kødbyen's Xmas Market

Carlsberg Market

Xmas at Kronborg Castle

Kongens Nytorv Market

Fri 26 Nov, 14:00-18:00, Sat 27 Nov, 12:00-16:00 & Sun 28 Nov, 12:00-16:00; Sjømannskirken, Ved Mønten 9, Cph S; 10kr Enjoy Norwegian delicacies at this bazaar. The festivities include a performance by the King Haakon Church Choir (Sat 14:00) and a liturgy to mark the first Sunday of Advent (Sun 11:00). Enjoy pinnekjøtt, lutefisk, cookies, waffles and more.

open Dec 3-5, Fri 15:00-20:00, Sat 10:00-18:00 & Sun 10:00-16:00; Slagthusgade 44, Cph V; free adm Get the ideal present while munching on gløgg, risalamande, cakes and confectionery. Source prints, posters, porcelain and paper crafts and that’s just goods starting with a P!

All weekends in Dec, 10:0017:00; Gamle Carlsberg Vej 11, Cph V; free adm The Carlsberg Brewery invites visitors to stroll through the historic setting of the old factory while sipping beer at the dozens of stalls selling Carlsberg merchandise. Probably the best Christmas market ever for Dad.

Nov 27-Dec 5, weekends 10:0017:00; 85kr; kongeligeslotte.dk In the rooms and halls of the castle there will be a wide variety of stalls selling Christmas decorations, arts and crafts, unique design, clothes, toys and small goods. Visitors will be able to admire the large Christmas tree in the ballroom, and watch a commemorative show. There will be a walk through the royal flats, casemates and chapel.

ongoing, ends Dec 22, open Mon-Wed 11:00-19:00, Thu 11:00-20:00, Fri-Sat 11:0021:00, Sun 12:00-19:00; Kongens Nytorv, Cph K; jul-i-kobenhavn.dk Ever since King Christian V – who still sits there on his horse – opened the square in 1670, its cobblestones have been the scene of all sorts of events. Visiting the Xmas market is like a trip back in time..

Højbro Plads Market

Dec 9-20, 12:00-20:00; Refshalevej 2, Cph K; free adm; Christiania.org The Christiania locals welcome visitors to the Grey Hall for craft activities, mulled wine and entertainment. The stalls plan to sell handmade artwork that has been produced over the year by the freetown artists. There will be live music and stage shows every day: jazz, swing, Django Reinhardt, Balkan …

Family Xmas Market Fri Dec 3, 14:00-19:00, Sat 4 & Sun 5 Dec, 10:00-16:00; Bernstorff Slot, Jægersborg Alle 93, Gentofte; 100kr, under-12s: 30kr The organisers are promising a magical Christmas experience for the whole family. Santa and his elves will be in attendance, along with 90 stalls selling the finest festive crafts, and musicians aplenty. This could be the Danish julehygge experience you’ve been looking for.

KADK Xmas Market Nov 28, 10:00-17:00; Danneskiold-Samsøes Allé 51, Cph K; free adm; kadk.dk Every year the students and employees at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation (KADK) sell their own creations such as sculptures, Christmas decorations, jewellery, ceramics, prints and paintings – stuff they’ve made during their studies. Don’t forget to bring cash. Get there early as there’s a limit on 400 visitors at a time.

Tivoli Market ongoing, ends Dec 30, open Sun-Thu 11:00-22:00, Fri-Sat 11:00-23:00; Vesterbrogade 3, Cph V; 135 kr, tivoligardens.com Thousands of twinkling lights, 70,000 baubles, countless decorations, pine branches laden with snow, and Santa and his reindeer await visitors. The market’s 60 stalls will be filled with decorations, snacks, sweets and hot drinks.

Greenlandic Xmas Market Dec 11-12; Det Grønlandske Hus, Løvstræde 6, Cph K Source Greenlandic handicrafts at its 40 stalls. From musk wool and sealskin to pearls and jewels.

Kitchen Xmas Market Dec 12, 10:00-17:00; The Lab, Vermundsgade 40A + B, 1st floor, Cph Ø; free adm Stalls and activities for children and adults. Ceramics, clothes, accessories and handicrafts. Edible delicacies and hot drinks.

Dragør Market Nov 27-Dec 5, Sat & Sun 12:0017:00; Badstuevælen, Dragør; visit-dragoer.dk In Badstuevælen central square in the middle of Dragør's old town, you can explore the small Christmas stalls, where you can find small presents and enjoy pancakes, mulled wine and other food and drink. While you’re on the tip of Amager, seek out the decorations exhibition at Amager Museet, Citizens' Association Christmas Market and Xmas farm at Seerup Gård.

Viktoria Christmas Market Nov 26-28, 10:00-19:00; Vesterbrogade 24B, Cph V; viktoriaceramicstudio.dk In a 400 sqm studio, enjoy the build-up to Christmas by admiring the ceramics created by the six designers of the studio in a convivial atmosphere while drinking mulled wine. Custom-made and handmade, these are great designs for affordable prices. “You will be the owner of something truly unique,” the studio promises.

Rita Blå’s Store Julelopper Dec 5, 11:00-16:00; Charlotte Ammundsens Pl 3, Cph K; 370 kr to run a stall, billeto.dk A large Christmas market will be held in the cultural house in the city centre, where flea, craft and decoration stalls will bring the magic and generosity of the Christmas season to life. At the end of their participation, stallholders are invited to donate unsold goods to Danish Catholic Relief Services.

Østerbro’s Hyggeligste Market Dec 4-5, Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 10:00-16:00; Odensegade 30, Cph Ø; free adm Named by Antik & Auktion magazine as one of Copenhagen’s best, the Christmas edition of the wellknown flea market will serve up countless possibilities for presents. The large sun terrace is transformed into a marketplace with coffee and cakes to welcome happy visitors. As the organisers proudly proclaim, it’s the “market where people meet”.

Christmas at Flid Dec 4-5, 10:00-17:00; Nørrebrohallen, Nørrebrogade 208, Cph N; 30 kroner, free for kids; flidmarked.dk The Flid exhibition platform brings art to Nørrebrohallen visitors: a marketplace full of emerging Scandinavian craftsmen and designers, offering unique insight into what will be the sustainable trends in the creative industries in the future. Ceramics, graphic design, textiles, painting, sculpture, lighting, jewellery, photography … you name it!

Copenhagen Zoo Market ongoing, ends Dec 31, opening times vary, most days 10:00-16:00; Roskildevej 38, Frederiksberg; 195kr; zoo.dk Copenhagen Zoo is holding an old-fashioned Christmas. It’s shipped in half a million Christmas lights, 900 Christmas trees and Santa himself. Take a trip on the train, feed the farm animals, sing Christmas carols with Popsi & Krelle, and skate between the panda and penguin enclosures. At the market, glögg, roasted almonds, apple slices, waffles, cocoa and lots of other Christmas crunch await you.

ongoing, ends Dec 22, open Mon-Wed 11:00-19:00, Thu 11:00-20:00, Fri-Sat 11:0021:00, Sun 12:00-19:00; Højbro Pl, Cph K; julemarked.nu In the heart of the old town, the International Christmas Market is based on the typical German Weihnachtsmarkt concept. The log cabins are imported from Tyrol and many exhibitors come from Germany. Fill up on typical Frankfurt sausages, German-style Glühwein, waffles, pancakes and sweets.

Xmas at Bakken Nov 26-Dec 22; Dyrehavevej 62, Klampenborg; free adm; bakken.dk For the fourth time, Bakken is opening its doors to celebrate Christmas, inviting all the generations to a 'celebration of hearts'. As you stroll through the streets of the world's oldest theme park, you will see a number of stalls decorated with lights and trees. Gifts, specialities, hand-knitted hats and jewellery. Finish off with dinner at one of the restaurants on the hill, which offer a wide selection of Christmas meals.

HC Andersen Market Nov 12-Dec 21, Sun-Thu 11:0019:00, Fri-Sat 11:00-20:00; Nytorv, Hulgårdsvej 27, Cph K; julemarked.co An enchanting world, decorated cottages, tastes, smells, atmosphere … if it’s conviviality you’re after. Set up each year in honour of the writer Hans Christian Andersen, the stalls are all named after one of his stories. Children can have fun on the nostalgic merry-go-round, while in Santa's house, Mrs Claus will welcome them to make their own decorations.

Christiania Market

Nyhavn Christmas Market ongoing, open Sun-Thu 11:00-19:00, Fri-Sat 11:00-20:00; Nyhavn, Cph K; markedskalenderen.dk Can you imagine a more beautiful place in Copenhagen for a Christmas market than Nyhavn? Swing by the charming harbour and taste local treats such as æbleskiver and gløgg, whilst listening to traditional Danish Christmas hits.

Kødbyen Food & Xmas Market Dec 19-20, 10:00-20:00; Kødbyen, Flæsketorvet, Cph V An event at Kødbyen always ensures a down-to-earth yet edgy urban atmosphere. Enjoy a weekend in the food district filled with churros and sandwiches as well as many Christmas dishes and treats. And don’t forget to stock up on veg as well.

Esrum Kloster Xmas Market Nov 27-Dec 5, weekends 10:0017:00; Klostergade 11-12, Esrum, Græsted; 85kr; esrum.dk At Esrum Kloster Christmas Market, high quality products are on sale, such as casks of sparkling monastery beer, liqueurs, French delicacies, jams and cakes. The onsite Møllecafé lays on a local Christmas menu. And it’s even possible to take tours of the monastery's premises and exhibitions.

18 EVENTS

THE COPENHAGEN POST | CPHPOST.DK

26 November - 9 December 2021

CPH English Comedy Night

Christmas at the Museum

Nordic Art Fair

Dirty Immigrant Stand-up

The Nutcracker

Dec 4, 20:00; Teater Play, Strandlodsvej 7, Cph S; 130kr, billetto.dk Headliner Tamer Kattan is an American comic who is worth the price of admission alone. Join compere Adrian Mackinder (yes, the columnist on page 11!) and support acts David Duff (Ireland), Julian Oakes (UK) and Rozarina Larsen (Malaysia) for another funny evening. The venue is roughly seven minutes’ walk from Øresund Metro.

Nov 27-28, Dec 4-5 & 11-12, 11:00-16:00; Land of Legends, Slangealleen 2, Lejre; from 65kr, sagnlandet.dk Land of Legends museum invites you to experience Christmas through the Viking and rural age. The open-air museum is a few kilometres west of Roskilde. (KY)

Nov 26-28, open Fri 14:0019:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-17:00; Art Nordic, Otto Busses Vej 5A, Cph SV; three-day pass 145kr The Nordic region's largest sales and art fair offers you the chance to meet over 200 artists, experience art and explore creativity. Should you want to rest your legs, head to the lounge areas to find food, beer and wine. (KY)

Dec 5, 20:00; No Stress, Nørregade 26, Cph K; 150kroner; tickets Stand-up comedy with travelling Romanian comedian Victor Patrascan who will poke the truth out with a stick and provoke you with his jokes. (KY)

Nov 26-Dec 22, daily performances Wed-Sun; Gamle Scene, Kongens Nytorv 9, Cph K; 55-805 kr, kglteater Christmas wouldn’t be the same without the Nutcracker ballet choreographed by George Balanchine. It’s a classic enjoyed by generations of both children and adults. Watch the ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ and die happy. (KY)

James Giles Nov 25, 19:00; Ørstedvej 6, Frederiksberg A one-night-only solo concert at La Fée Verte with music and poetry from Canadian singer-songwriter and philosopher James Giles, who will perform from his latest album ‘A Man in the Alley’. A mix of alternative rock, indie, folk and other styles awaits. (MR)

Concerto Copenhagen Nov 27, 16:00; Den Sorte Diamant, Søren Kierkegaards Pl 1, Cph K; 100-200 kr; kb.dk The Concerto Copenhagen trio celebrate the 30th anniversary of their formation at the Black Diamond. Expect classical greats such as Vivaldi and Bach. (MR)

The Courettes Dec 18, 20:00; Råhust, Onkel Dannys Pl 7; 110-140kr This husband and wife Danish-Brazilian garage rock duo bring the house down wherever they take their early 1960s-inspired act. As one critic observes, it’s the “perfect balancing act between the garage rock of the Sonics and Phil Spector's girl group fantasies”.

Christmas at the cathedral Dec 11 & 16, 19:00; Roskilde Cathedral, Domkirkestræde 10, Roskilde; from 100kr; roskildedomkirke.dk Enjoy a Christmas concert featuring the Roskilde Cathedral Girls and Boys' Choir and a rendition of ‘Handel's Messiah’ by the Roskilde Cathedral Boys' Choir. (KY)

Xmas beer, dinner and more Dec 8, 17:00; Herslev Brewery, Kattingevej 16, Roskilde; 195kr; to know more Christmas beer, communal dining and a concert await you at Herslev Brewery. Experience musician Mads Kinnerup and night church priest Sarah Ziethen creating an adventurous Christmas landscape. (KY)

Voices from the Block Dec 11, 13:00-20:00; Cinemateket, Gothersgade 55, Cph K; 30kr per visit Young people often experience they are talked about, but not with. Cinemateket is opening its doors to the ‘Voices from the Block’ mini-festival, where children and young people from public housing areas can present films, videos, poems and other creative works. (KY)

Future of Foods talk Nov 30, 17:00; CBS, Solbjerg Plads 3, Frederiksberg; free adm CBS Food Hub in collaboration with Effective Altruism Denmark and Tempty Foods invites you to a talk about alternative proteins. Is the alternative protein field a sustainable and realistic way to change the food system? Find out! (KY)

Scandinavian Black Metal Dec 5, 19:00; Musik Loppen, Sydområdet 4B, 1, Cph K; 130 kr; tickets Two of Scandinavia's heaviest black metal bands, MORK and Afsky, take over Loppen for one night only. (KY)

Globe Quiz Dec 2 & 16, 19:15; Globe Irish Pub, Nørregade 43-45, Cph K; 40 kroner per person Game night’s on at this pub on Nørregade! Gather your four best-informed friends and secure a spot in the pub before they’re all gone. The winners will be awarded 1,000 kroner, and there are plenty of spot prizes too. (MB)

CTC Open Stage Dec 2, 17:30; Krudttønden, Serridslevvej 2, Cph; free adm; ctcircle.dk Poets, storytellers, stand-up comedians and others are welcome to perform at CTC’s Open Stage. If you wish to perform, sign-up in advance. Otherwise, come along to enjoy food and performances. (KY)

Crazy Christmas Cabaret ongoing, ends Jan 15, Tue-Sat 19:30, Sat 15:00, Sun 17:00; Glassalen at Tivoli, Cph V; 185410kr, londontoast.dk The Crazy Christmas Cabaret 2021-22 instalment ‘Tell me About it’ will whisk you away to Miami for an evening of music, laughter, dancing, biting satire and cross-dressing. There’s plenty of Danglish humour to amuse both Brits and Danes. The show, and creator Vivienne McKee, are both national institutions.

True dating stories Nov 11-13, 18-20 & 25-26, 20:30; Teater PLAY, 7 Strandlodsvej, Cph S; 180kr; contact team@storyparty.co You are the star of this two-hour show. The audience are invited to write down their true dating stories and then the ‘best’ ones are shared.

The Snow Queen Dec 1-23; Tivoli Concert Hall, Vesterbrogade 3 Cph V; 220-630 kroner; tivoligardens.com In the heart of Tivoli, an adventurous classical ballet performance for the whole family will feature a new version of HC Andersen's fairy-tale. This is the one that Queen Margrethe designed most of the costumes and decorations for! (MR)

Guided Tour in UN City 26 Nov & 3 Dec, 15:00; Marmorvej 51, Cph Ø; free adm; eventbrite.com The United Nations City in Copenhagen invites the public every Friday afternoon for a 45-minute guided tour in English of the premises. (MR)

Walk for Palestine 29 Nov, 17:30; TBC In 32 cities around the world demonstrations are being organised to remind people that Palestine must not be forgotten.(MR)

Kennedys Quiz Dec 6, 19:30; Kennedys Bar, Gammel Kongevej 23, Cph V; 25kr, four per team The winners get 800 kroner and there are plenty of spot prizes.

danish on a sunday english subtitles Watch Danish masterpieces on the big screen with English subtitles! On November 28 we present ’Love Child’ - a beautiful documentary about a couple who have ﬂed from Iran to Istanbul. See what’s on at cinemateket.dk or visit us in Gothersgade 55.

26 November - 9 December 2021

ENGLISH JOB DENMARK

Recruitment Announcements Part of The Welcome Group C++ DEVELOPER, WEIBEL

We need you to join our software development team and you will get the opportunity to unfold all of your C++ skills among other highly competent team colleagues. Location: Allerød Deadline: 12 December 2021 Lars Warren Ramsdal, Engineering Contact: Manager, Application SW, +45 48 16 95 69

DIGITAL IC TEAM MANAGER, OTICON

Your key responsibility is to manage your new team, where competence development is very high on our agenda. You will drive process, tools, and best practices to ensure high efficiency and quality. As a manager, it’s also important for us, that you can motivate and inspire your team to design and implement industry-leading solutions. Location: Smørum Deadline: 5 December 2021 Anders Hebsgaard, Contact: Head of Digital IC Design, +45 23 88 75 91

LEAD BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER (M/F/D), DANFOSS

Your main objective is to successfully grow and develop our business within water nozzles. This is a unique opportunity for you to be a pivotal part in driving our green agenda. Location: Nordborg Deadline: ASAP Sune Prytz, Contact: Director of Global Sales and Business Development, +45 40 62 42 66

To advertise your vacancy here and reach 60,000+ readers weekly, contact: info@englishjobdenmark.dk or call 60 70 22 98. For more information about what we can offer: https://englishjobdenmark.dk/

ENGLISH JOB DENMARK

PhD POSITIONS, DTU

You have finished (or are close to finishing) your master’s degree in mathematics, data science, statistics or computer science. Then what? We have the answer. At least if your dream is to turn your ideas into technology for the benefit of people by pushing the boundaries of the digital agenda in science and engineering. Location: Kongens Lyngby Deadline: 16 December 2021 Dorte Stebit, PhD coordinator, Contact: +45 45 25 52 73

SENIOR DISTRIBUTION MANAGER, GN HEARING

You will be responsible for overseeing transportation and logistics performance, liaising between operations and sales to exceed customer expectations with regards to order quality, delivery, and timeliness. Location: Ballerup Deadline: 9 December 2021 Bryan Meyer, Global Commercial Contact: Freight & Brokerage, +1 859 652 4269

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT, ROCKWOOL

Do you want to become a valuable partner for the Managing Director, supporting him in a variety of both hands-on and strategic tasks? And are you interested in developing professionally as you work with senior colleagues and engage yourself in large projects within different fields? Location: Hedehusene Deadline: ASAP Signe Hanse, HR Partner, Contact: +45 20 97 13 82

STUDENT ASSISTANT IN GLOBAL OPERATIONS – PACKAGING AND LABELLING, EPOS Do you study an engineering program such as design, industrial, mechanical engineering or similar? And do you want to work professionally within the gaming industry? Location: Ballerup Deadline: ASAP Ole Mollerup, Contract Contact: Manufacturing Director, +45 56 18 03 33

COPYWRITER - A WORD MAGICIAN WANTED!, ELOOMI

We are looking for an experienced Copywriter with an interest in Digital Marketing. You are an expert in creating unique messages and you love to play with words Location: Copenhagen Deadline: ASAP Susie Sandberg, Head of People & Contact: Work Experience, susie@eloomi.com

SENIOR PEOPLE PARTNER, FALCON.IO

In this role you will report into global People Lead, manage one colleague in the US and will contribute to the overall strategy and development of our People function. Location: Copenhagen Deadline: ASAP cision.com/careers/ Contact:

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER FOR INVESTMENT PROJECTS, NOVO NORDISK

Do you have a scientific background and a strong track record managing complex projects? Do you get motivated by identifying and improving investment projects in the pharmaceutical production area for the benefit of millions of insulin-patients worldwide? If so, we can offer you a rarely posted position, where strategy and execution come together, and where you can be a part of changing the lives of millions of people living with diabetes – now and in the future. Location: Kalundborg Deadline: 15 December 2021 Steffan Christensen, Contact: +45 3075 6145

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